1. Field
The present embodiments relate to techniques for monitoring and analyzing computer systems. More specifically, the present embodiments relate to a method and system for dynamically capping the power utilization and/or temperature of the computer system through analysis of telemetry data from the computer system.
2. Related Art
As electronic commerce becomes more prevalent, businesses are increasingly relying on enterprise computer systems to process ever-larger volumes of electronic transactions. Such enterprise computer systems are typically mounted in racks and housed in data centers. To ensure proper and continuous functioning of the computer systems, the data centers may include both main and backup power, as well as environmental controls such as air conditioning and fire protection systems.
At the same time, increasing densities of both components and rack-based computer systems in data centers have resulted in greater demand for both power and temperature control within the data centers. To meet such demand, newer computer systems often provide dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) mechanisms that allow the operating voltages and/or frequencies of individual processors to be scaled up or down to meet power and/or temperature limits for the computer systems.
However, DVFS requires support from both the hardware and operating system (OS) of a computer system. Consequently, legacy computer systems that do not include DVFS support may lack the ability to regulate power utilization and/or temperature. Furthermore, DVFS implementations typically restrict each processor to one of a small number (e.g., 6, or 8) of discrete operating states, thus precluding fine-grained tuning of temperature, power utilization, and/or workload execution on the processor.
Hence, data center operation and usage may be facilitated by mechanisms that enable precise management of power utilization, temperature, and/or workload execution in both legacy and newer computer systems.